The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that bankers jostled to raise about $2-billion in new capital for medical marijuana companies in the first three months of 2018. A triple-bylined item led by Alexandra Posadzki says that the largest stock sales so far this year have come from cannabis growers such as ABcann Global and Canopy Growth. Canaccord Genuity, GMP Securities Ltd. and other independent investment banks dominate coverage of the nascent sector, both because the industry is emerging and the big Canadian banks have mostly watched from the sidelines. In January, pot stocks were changing hands at a blistering pace amid an extraordinary rally. Cannabis companies capitalized by raising money to fuel their expansion plans both in Canada and abroad. This flurry of activity has helped vault their underwriters at the independents above many of their peers at the Big Six banks by value of deals completed. Over all, equity financings have dropped over the same time last year, as bankers and investors digested the potential effects of interest rate hikes, recent U.S. tax changes and trade threats, and elevated stock-market volatility. Proceeds from Canadian equity issuance were down 40 per cent.